Livvy
Jul, 2014Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
I was on a gorgeous day out with friends at our local botanical gardens. The kids were begging to go to the play area after spending all day in and out the gardens, greenhouses and picnic area. I was sitting casually on the bench when I saw Livvy playing on a chain swing.Time
This was mid afternoon during the end of Summer..Not a cloud in the sky and the sun behind her. As it was the botanical gardens we were surrounded by beautiful trees, which had dappled the harsh sun around me.Lighting
I knew straight away when I saw her (Livvy) that I wanted to capture her face and hair in the gentle breeze. The sun was behind her creating backlighting so I over exposed for the face...And Prayed!! I had to think very quickly and kept my shutter speed fast and ISO low.Equipment
I had with me that day, my trusty 70-300mm lens. I like to see the children play from afar and photograph them, unawares. Other than that..I had nothing else.Inspiration
She was in her element, playing blissfully unawares..Usually shy for the camera but she did not see me capture the image. There was a beautiful gentle breeze which caught the wisps in her ponytails...It reminded me of myself when I was a little girl. Its exactly what I wanted to capture. There was nothing forced about this image..It just happened..Natural and perfect.Editing
I always shot in raw and thank goodness I do..I had over exposed the face in this image to compensate the back lighting so I had quite a bit of work to do. Pull back the highlights, open up the shadows, a little dodge and burn and pulled up the contrast. I added a vignette as I wanted her face to be the feature and catch the attention.In my camera bag
My bag never leaves the house with my trusty Nikon 50mm 1.4 prime and my Sigma 70-300mm zoom lens. I'm at my most comfortable shooting with these lenses. I also pack a remote trigger for my self portraits, spare batteries, spare memory cards, a camera raincover, a prism (i love getting creative) and a torch as sometimes im out in the dark.Feedback
My best advice would be..Have fun and don't force it. Capturing children is on their terms and if they don't want to play then its game over. Let them engage in their surroundings how they want to and go with it. Shoot with a zoom lens (you'll get that lovely, creamy bokeh too) and they won't notice you are there, use a fast shutter speed for crisp, sharp images and in continuous mode so you don't miss a shot. You can pick your best later!
